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Theodore Roosevelt, as an Indian medicine man, beats a drum labeled “The New Nationalism” while standing in a cart with “Publisher Howland” and “Editor Abbott” who are selling bottles of “Outlook Tonic” hailed as “Nature’s Remedy for All Ailments.” On Roosevelt’s chest is the head of an elephant. Caption: The populace is privileged to step up and buy at any time.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-11-02
An over-sized man labeled “The Individual” casts a shadow labeled “Incorporation” which is caused by a light, on the left, held by a “Corporation Lawyer” and a “Corporation Legislator.” On the right, a female figure labeled “Dept. of Justice,” carrying a shield and a fasces, assails the shadow. Caption: “Whatever of wrong there is, is not the fault of the Corporation, but of the officials in charge of it. And for the individual committing the offense there should be punishment.”–Alton B. Parker.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-11-02
“Postmaster General” George von Lergeke Meyer, dressed as Santa Claus, stands beneath a sign that states “What is home without Statistics,” placing sheets of paper labeled “On Everything” in stockings hung before a fireplace. He carries a mail pouch stuffed with notices labeled “Mr. Taft on the Tariff, Mr. Bryan on the Tariff, Mr. Taft on Publicity, Mr. Bryan on Publicity, Mr. Bryan’s Conception of the Presidency, Mr. Kern’s Conception of the Vice Presidency, [and] Mr. Sherman on Protection.”
George von Lengerke Meyer was a college friend of Theodore Roosevelt (one year ahead of the future president, class of 1879), and was a Massachusetts businessman and politician. He was appointed to offices in government and the diplomatic corps by President William McKinley and by Roosevelt, finally serving as Postmaster General of the United States, 1907-1909.
Moses C. Wetmore and Norman E. Mack carry a shoulder pole labeled “For Contributions” from which hangs a tiny bag. They explain to William Jennings Bryan, as Moses, seated with Henry Watterson, John W. Kern, and Alton B. Parker around him, that there is very little money flowing into the Democratic campaign coffers. Standing on the left are Thomas F. Ryan and Perry Belmont. Caption: And they returned after forty days, and they said unto Moses: “Surely it is a land flowing with milk and honey, but there is nothing doing in collections.”
Puck Magazine’s artists, and many cartoonists of the era, frequently relied on Biblical analogies and stories as contexts for their drawings; and mythology, operatic narratives, legends, and Shakespeare as well. “The Return of the Scouts,” with Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan as Moses, is based on the Book of Numbers, Chapter 13.
Theodore Roosevelt appears as a two-faced Janus chess game piece. On the left is an angelic “Roosevelt The National Savior” and on the right a devilish “Roosevelt the National Menace.” Caption: It all depends on the way you look at him.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-11-09
Vignettes show children leaving Sunday school on the left and walking to the movies on the right, with scenes depicting bad influences, such as “The Devil’s Recruiting Station” and the hazards of films that teach bad habits, such as “Where did you learn to crack a safe? At the Moving Picture Show.” Above the Sunday school is a bust of an angel; above the movie theater is a bust of the devil. Caption: From the Sunday-school to the moving-picture show is but a step.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-11-09
A mother sits on a porch with a searchlight trained on her daughter and her boyfriend as they fly overhead in an airplane. Caption: The Maid-in-the-Air (to her Steady) — I think it’s awfully mean of Mamma to keep that searchlight on us wherever we fly!
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-11-16
A fat man labeled “Monopoly” feasts on a large piece of meat labeled “Alaska Natural Resources” while a beggar labeled “American Homesteader” lies at his feet asking only for the morsels that fall from the table. Caption: “Fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table.”
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-11-16
A young boy sharpens a knife as he stands before a large turkey with its feet in stocks labeled 1910; the turkey is perspiring.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-11-23
A disheveled Uncle Sam sits at a messy table in a restaurant after a wild party where too much alcohol has been consumed. There are overturned chairs, and a man labeled “Capital” lies on the floor beneath one end of the table. An overturned bottle labeled “Overspeculation” spills contents labeled “Overissue of Securities.” Another bottle is labeled “Overbuilding.” Bottles on the floor are labeled “Waste” and “Overproduction,” and a spill is labeled “Overestimation of Natural Resources.” Wax from a candle on the table is labeled “Overconfidence” and a bottle next to Uncle Sam is labeled “Overcapitalization.” Lying on the floor at the other end of the table, among overturned chairs, is a man labeled “Labor.” On the table above him is a spill labeled “Overspending,” and a box of cigars labeled “Overbuying” is spilling its contents on the floor. In a broken mirror on the back wall are the words “National Vanity,” and printed on a window is “Rationalism.” Caption: Uncle Sam — “And this is Thanksgiving Day!”
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-11-23
Uncle Sam picks a puppy labeled “Wilson” from a litter of puppies labeled “Foss, Baldwin, Harmon, [and] Dix.” The mother of the puppies is labeled “Democratic Party.”
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-11-30
A hand labeled “Republican Party” pours champagne from a bottle labeled “Tariff Revision” into a glass held by another hand labeled “Protected Interests.” Two hands labeled “Consumer” are holding an empty glass.
The theme of Udo J. Keppler’s cartoon — that tariffs imposed and maintained for purposes of revenue or protection of fledgling industries against cheaper foreign imports were chimeras — was as old as the American Industrial Revolution. In the critiques of low-tariff and free-trade proponents, imports saddled with tariff duties should have resulted in lower prices of domestically produced goods.
A woman, standing in front of a mirror, wears a tight dress designed by the Devil, who crouches behind the mirror. Other women, wearing revealing costumes from different eras, stand on the left. Caption: His Majesty the Designer — This modern costume is the best asset my business ever had!
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-11-30
A beautiful young woman wearing a large red and green hat stands among mistletoe, in the snow, in a frame with elves on each side at the base.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-12-07
A beautiful young Native American woman stands beneath a sprig of mistletoe at a colonial Christmas party, while several men in attendance appear eager to kiss her.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-12-07
A beautiful, partially nude, winged woman rescues an airman who has fallen out of an airplane, and gives him a kiss. Caption: An airmaid to the rescue!
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-12-14
Uncle Sam sits on a split-rail fence labeled “Trust Control of Congress” enclosing a barren patch of land and an emaciated cow labeled “U.S. Post Office Dept.” Outside the fence are some fat cows labeled “Express Company” that are grazing on rich grasses labeled “Parcel Carrying Profits” showing paper money and dollar signs. Caption: Uncle Sam–It’s high time that fence came down!
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-12-14
Champ Clark, as Santa Claus, stands on a roof with a large sack labeled “Fulfillment of Democratic Pledges” over his shoulder, next to a chimney labeled “Democratic Harmony” with several flues labeled “Radicalism, Cannonized Democracy, Wall Street Interests, Safe & Sane, Solid South, Eastern Conservatism, [and] Bryanism.” Caption: Santa Claus Champ — If I’m to deliver the goods, some of those flues will have to come off!
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-12-21
High society women with big hats, dogs, a doll, and a chimpanzee, are startled at the prospect that one of their own would desire to become a mother. A young woman holding an infant is sitting at center in a rocking chair.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-12-21
The new year, “1911,” arrives by airplane, while on the ground Father Time looks aghast at the airplane overhead and the wreck of his automobile labeled “1910.”
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-12-28